EXPLOSIVE MINES AHEAD OF NIGERIAN FOOTBALL

Aminu Maigari wearing an uneasy cap

God bless Fela Anikulapo-Kuti for his song, ‘yanga sleep, trouble go wake am’.  That probably describes how best to understand the current board of the NFA led by Alhaji Aminu Maigari. That is number one point.

Quickly, I have observed too much leakages coming from within the Board. Everyone of the members wants to be heard in the media. The other day, Chief Mike Umeh was demanding for journalists to pay for information from the NFA! The media department recoloured it all in a subtle denial. Chief Patrick Ekeji intoned it some days back too. Self-destruct on the burners? The board creates and plants mines that can ‘wonjure’ (Warri no more uses wound or injure separately but have combined both) it mortally. By the time the mines start going off, pray, that the Glass House remains standing. I have warned.

NIGERIA PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE: As soon as the Maigari board took over the reins of power after that initial court process put in place by Harrison Jalla’s National Association of Nigerian Footballers (NANF) she hurriedly entered the graveyard to unearth the bones of the NPL elections many thought had been interred finally.

For calling Chief Mike Umeh, Maigari’s deputy, to advise his team to tread softly because the path they have chosen is dangerous as it can even consume the NFA board itself, my car was attacked. The driver’s window was broken. My car stereo removed to make it look like theft and my “football matters” file was missen. At the meeting, probably owing to Chief Ekeji’s unction on them to be careful, they sidetracked the idea. They however, keep denying Owumi and the NPL their seat in the NFA board as First Vice President. They postponed the evil’s day.

IMPORTS NOT ASSESSED:

1.       Now let’s quickly ask. Chief Anyansi and Alhaji Muazu, both served on the NPL election committee that brought Owumi in. Both are on Maigari’s board. A sack of Owumi means both men have passed a vote of no confidence in themselves and should be made to resign immediately after that decision is taken.

2.       Chief Mike Umeh has a pending case with the EFCC over the ‘tokunbo’ buses he supplied the Lulu administration as new. By import, that is fraud. It is a matter of rejuvenating the case and demanding a further investigation and final prosecution. While this is going on, the Ogbulafor precedence has to be applied;

3.       Anyone can in the guise of protecting the sanctity of the Nigerian judiciary go to court to insist that Justice Abang’s orders in the NANF case be upheld. The entire board will have to go down as the NFA slept on their rights to have gone to a higher court to vacate same thus becoming statute barred; Jiti Ogunye has commenced one of such. The entire board can go down;

4.       There are some other officials of the NFA board that have ‘sinned’ and are not qualified to stand to throw stone against another sinner. These will all become public. Sleeping dogs will become wild, will never sleep and the strains of troubles goes on unabated. Siddon look!

UYO AGM: Representatives of the various Leagues (National League, Women’s League and Amateur League) into the NFF Executive Committee are expected to be elected at the meeting in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State on the 27^th and 28^th December 2010. The guidelines for the election expected released has shown that officials of the NFA have some hidden agenda to plant their own stooges in these seats.

I stand corrected. What is the business of state FA chairmen electing these representatives? This is unruly, wrong and against FIFA’s rules. For instance, Zamfara FA chairman who has no women league team will vote to choose the representatives of the Women League.

States that do not have amateur teams will vote for representative of the Amateur League. Haba! Where are the club owners in these leagues? Is the process they want to adopt in Uyo what was used in the NPL? Was this the process known to be used in previous elections? Sooner of later, one day, people will be pushed to the wall to carry arms and ammunition to fight matters of football.

LULU AND CAS: My week long investigation on the matter the “Fantastic Four” (Alhaji Abdullahi Lulu, Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi, Mr.Amanze Uchegbulam and Dr Bolaji Ojo-Oba) took to the Court of Arbitration in Sports (CAS) in Lousanne was struck out.

A quick retreat was beaten by the “Fantastic Four” to negotiate their relevance and make it look like they were withdrawing the suit after being begged. Part of the negotiation was the return of the suspended troika.

In matters of days, details, including documentary evidences will be made available. Affidavits sworn to in Magistrates Courts in Nigeria used in the CAS suit have been denied by the actors claiming their signatures were forged. If this is true, then, criminal fraud would have been involved under oath, thus, perjury.

The Police may have to come in.